Agora Foundation Awards $100,000 Grant to Water 1st

Water 1st is pleased to announce a $100,000 grant from Agora Foundation at Peninsula Community Foundation. Agora, a donor-advised fund at Peninsula Community Foundation near San Francisco, was established in 2001 by philanthropist Wynnette LaBrosse.

The one-year grant will support Water 1st projects in the urban settlements of Dhaka, Bangladesh, bringing clean water to 5,000 people living in the informal settlement communities of Demra, Kamrangir Char, and Pallabi. These projects are very unique in that residents are paying 100% of the capital costs of their water project over time. Even though the slum dwellers in Dhaka are poor, living on less than $1 per day and in some cases less than $1 per week, they will pay 100% of the capital costs of their projects through monthly installments. This financial investment on the part of Water 1st project participants demonstrates that they place a high value on improving their water supply and that the project will be well-maintained. Repaid funds will then be used to support new water projects in the slums of Dhaka, allowing the Agora grant to continue to bring clean water and latrines to people in need for years to come.

The Agora grant will also be used to assist Water 1st with its strategic planning and to boost its fundraising activities, providing a $20,000 matching grant for new corporate sponsors of our annual fall fundraiser at Benaroya Hall in downtown Seattle.

“When we lose sight of the horrors in the world, it’s easy to get caught up in our own challenges," says Wynnette LaBrosse. “But what we experience pales in comparison: we flip on a faucet and safe water flows out…there are no faucets to flip on in villages in Bangladesh, India, Ethiopia, or Honduras. We take a drink and never fear the consequences…every drink they take has life threatening consequences."

"Water solutions are crucial in developing countries, especially for women and children…the responsibility falls on them to walk for hours to collect water, and after that agonizing trek, that very water literally kills human potential. Pathogen contamination takes what should be life-sustaining and turns it into a recurring drink of death. I know that Water 1st is working diligently to leverage support for this basic need."

"When people get their basic need met for safe drinking water, there is room for wide-ranging improvements. They no longer have to watch their children get sick and die; these water projects are catalysts for the “best practices” of hygiene habits, community connections, grappling with gender issues, and climbing out of the hole of poverty. Water solutions don’t just bring clean water, they change life. Agora’s privileged to be a part of the Water 1st team.”

“Wynnette’s commitment to the world water crisis makes this grant even more special,” said Water 1st Executive Director Marla Smith-Nilson. “She cares deeply about issues that affect poor people, especially women, and shares our goal to create a world where children no longer die from water-related illness and where women no longer struggle with the daily drudgery of collecting water for their families.”